Edmund Bolton
Edmund Bolton (or Boulton) (?1575-1633?) was an English poet and historian. Life By his own account, Bolton was born in 1575. Nothing is known of his family or origins, although he referred to himself as a distant relative of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he met John Selden, John Coke, and others. Bolton then lived in London at the Inner Temple. In London, he wrote occasional verse, contributing poems to England's Helicon, and commendatory verses to William Camden's Brittania and Ben Jonson's Volpone. He became a retainer of Villiers, and through the Duke's influence, Bolton secured a small place at the court of James I. Bolton married Margaret Porter, the sister of Endymion Porter, another of the Duke's retinue and a minor poet. Throughout his life, Bolton was oppressed by scarcity, about which he freely informed his numerous prospective patrons. These included, at one time or another, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury; Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton; and even Edward Alleyn. He wrote a Life of King Henry II. for Speed's Chronicle, but his Catholic sympathies betrayed themselves in his treatment of Thomas Becket, and a life by Dr John Barcham was substituted.Wood, Ath. Oxon. ed. Bliss, iii. 36. He was caught up in Charles's campaign against recusancy in 1628; he was imprisoned first in the Fleet Prison and then in Marshalsea, where he languished for want of a person of power to intercede for him. Bolton was still living in 1633, but the date of his death is unknown. Proposed Academy With the support of Villiers, Bolton advanced a scheme for an English Academy. He proposed a three-part structure. The academy would include learned aristocrats as auxiliary members, and the Lord Chancellor and the two university chancellors as "tutelaries"; but the heart of the enterprise was to be the group of "essentials" who would carry on the work of licensing publications that did not fall under the purview of the Archbishop of Canterbury and advancing antiquarian and historical study. James seems to have approved of the proposal, but the plan died with that king. Writing The most important of his numerous works are *''Hypercritica'', a short critical treatise begun about 1618 but not finished till 1621 (a date establishable by examination of its manuscript in the Bodleian Library, which refers to Bolton's contemporary Francis Bacon as Viscount St Alban, a title Bacon acquired in that year). This is valuable for its notices of contemporary authors such as Ben Jonson, whom he praises as the greatest English poet; this manuscript was reprinted in Joseph Haslewood's Ancient Critical Essays (vol. ii., 1815); *''Nero Caesar, or Monarchie depraved'' (1624), with special note of British affairs. Unsurprisingly, Bolton praised the virtues of strong monarchy and asserted the horror of any rebellion, even against unjust authority. In the preface, Bolton hints that James had encouraged the work, and the language of the whole text is a more or less evident bid for the patronage of Charles I. The bid failed. Publications Poetry *5 poems in England's Helicon (edited by John Flasket). London: I.R. for John Flasket, 1600. Non-fiction *''The Elements of Armories''. London: George Eld, 1610. *''Nero Caesar, or Monarchie depraved''. London: Thomas Snodham & Bernard Alsop for Thomas Walkley, 1624. *''The Cities Advocate''. London: Miles Flesher for William Lee, 1629; **also published as The Cities Great Concern. London: William Godbid, 1674. *''Hypercritica; or, A rule of judgment for writing or reading our history's, etc. Oxford, UK: 1722; **also published in ''Ancient Critical Essays on English Poets and Poetry (edited by Joseph Haslewood), Volume II. London: T. Bentley for Robert Triphook, 1815. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Edmund Bolton, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 21, 2016. See also * List of British poets References External links ;Poems *Bolton in The English Poets: An anthology: "A Palinode" *"Theorello: A sheepheard's edition" ;Prose *"On the English Poets" from Hypercritica ;About *Edmund Bolton in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Edmund Bolton at NNDB *Edmund Bolton in the Catholic Encyclopedia *Bolton, Edmund in the Dictionary of National Biography *Edmund Bolton(1575-1634 fl.) at The English Poets, 1579-1830 *Poem of the Week: A Palinode by Edmund Bolton reviewed at The Guardian * Original article is at "Bolton, Edmund." Category:17th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge